Why Tom Brevoort’s “Anger Is Better Than Indifference” Philosophy Is Exactly Why I Don’t Want Marvel Anywhere Near Gargoyles
When Marvel editor Tom Brevoort said he would rather make Marvel fans angry than have them be indifferent, the quote immediately made the rounds online. It is the sort of thing that sounds bold in a soundbite. It suggests a creator who values passion and engagement over apathy.
But the more I think about that statement, the more it bothers me. Not just as a comment about Marvel Comics, but as a glimpse into a broader editorial philosophy that I hope never comes anywhere near Gargoyles.
Because the philosophy behind that quote is fundamentally adversarial. It treats the relationship between creators and audience as something combative. The idea is that provoking the audience is good because at least they are reacting.
But storytelling is not supposed to be a fight between the creators and the fans.
The best long form storytelling is a relationship built on trust. The audience invests their time, their attention, and their emotional energy in the story. In return, the storytellers reward that investment with thoughtful character development, meaningful consequences, and narratives that respect the intelligence of the audience.
When that relationship works, you do not need to deliberately provoke anger to maintain engagement. The audience is already invested because the story itself matters to them.
That is one of the reasons Gargoyles has endured for decades. The series was built from the beginning on the idea that the story mattered and that the audience mattered. It treated its characters seriously. It respected continuity. It allowed actions to have consequences that carried forward through the narrative.
And perhaps most importantly, it never treated the audience as something to manipulate.
What Brevoort’s comment suggests is a mindset that views the audience less as partners in the storytelling experience and more as a resource to be managed. If they are angry, that is fine. If they are arguing, that is fine. If they are frustrated, that is fine. As long as they are still paying attention.
But that mindset can easily lead to the kind of storytelling that prioritizes reaction over substance. Shock over meaning. Short term controversy over long term narrative integrity.
Anyone who has followed the comics industry for a long time has seen this pattern play out repeatedly. A shocking twist. A controversial character decision. A sudden retcon designed to generate headlines and online arguments.
For a while, it works. People argue about it. Social media explodes with reactions.
But the long term effect is erosion. Readers begin to feel that their emotional investment is being used against them. That the story is less about the characters and more about generating the next moment of outrage or surprise.
Eventually the audience stops reacting.
Eventually they stop caring.
And that is exactly why the idea of Marvel having any kind of influence over Gargoyles makes me uneasy.
Gargoyles is not a property that thrives on shock value or manufactured controversy. Its strength has always been its careful world building and its respect for long term narrative structure. The series rewards viewers and readers who pay attention. It builds its mythology piece by piece, letting the characters grow and evolve over time.
That kind of storytelling requires patience. It requires a creative team that values consistency and long term planning over short term reaction.
Most importantly, it requires a philosophy that sees the audience as something to respect rather than something to provoke.
When I hear a major comics editor say that anger from fans is preferable to indifference, what I hear is an editorial mindset that measures success by noise rather than by storytelling quality.
And that is exactly the sort of mindset that Gargoyles has always avoided.
Which is why, if the choice ever arose, I would much rather see Gargoyles remain exactly where it is now than be absorbed into a publishing environment driven by that philosophy.
Because once a property loses the storytelling principles that made it special in the first place, no amount of fan anger will bring them back.